ECCB Governor Says Skills Training A Must For Youth Employment

Declaring his concern over what he described as ‘our obsession with subjects rather than skills’, the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has asserted that skills training is a must if young people are to find work, according to reports.

WINN.FM of St Kitts & Nevis quoted Doctor Timothy Antoine as making the remarks at a recent engagement in Barbados.

“I find it difficult to accept that we can go on and on for bragging rights about who gets the most subjects in our schools and not worry about how we are connecting with the labour market and what these students are going to do, bright as they are when they finish school,” the ECCB Governor was quoted as saying.

According to WINN.FM, the ECCB Governor said that with rising unemployment, skills training is a must if young people are to find work, providing the services needed to drive the region’s economy.

““What I see before me is rising unemployment especially among our youth. In many of our countries the youth unemployment rate is double the national average, so that concerns me and for me, it is very clear that skill is an area. So you could go in some countries and you still can’t find plumbers, you still can’t find masons, the really good ones are in high demand and the others well let’s not talk about that,” Antoine was reported as telling the Barbados event.

The ECCB Governor advocated for an improvement in the teaching of non-traditional skills including computer programming and behavioral sciences in order to keep pace with 21st-century development, it was reported.

1 COMMENT

Doctor Timothy Antoine is right on point about youth needing skills in today’s job environment. Another misconception that people have is that having a college degree guarantees them a good paying job and easy access into the job market, but while it is a plus, persons with Certifications in some fields will be considered more favorably for employment because they have a Certificate to prove that that can master specific tasks, especially in the area of computer, medical and legal. In fact, certification has become so relevant to some professions that some have even postponed going to college in favor of getting certified in some areas. A good example is students studying Cisco and Microsoft in high school and get certified then going straight into the job market.

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